BEFORE: Plenty of darkness: dark cabinets, dark counters. And this photo below is after I dressed her up! See the end of this post for what it looked like when we bought this house. Warning, it ain’t pretty.

BEFORE: 30” range, and awkward corner to left of sink that “jutted” out and ruined that counter space as anything but useable. (Not of big fan of lazy susans, which is what was in this corner.) In this photo you also can’t see where I melted my solid-surface countertops by the KitchenAid. Don’t forget to turn off your electric pancake griddle unless you want a replica of the San Anrdreas fault line in your countertops.

AFTER: 36” dual fuel range, nice square corner to left of sink makes that spot very usable for prep work now. Oh, and those are my same utensil crocks. I took the old ones outside and sprayed them limey green with a $3 can of spray paint. Super happy with how they turned out. I liked my stainless hood but love the cabinetry holding the hood insert way more. Of course this is vented outside as well. I’ve never understood hoods that are not vented--that just ‘recycle’ the air and spit it back into your house. That does nothing. I like to roast butterflied chicken at 500 degrees. And for that, you need a vented hood, unless you like the sound of smoke alarms. Done that before.

Before: An awkward island that had only two big sections meant always getting on my hands and knees to dig out pots and lids. Always a treasure hunt. (I did paint the island white last summer in an attempt to pacify my need for white cabinetry. It didn’t work.

After: An island made of quarter-sawn oak that looks like a piece of furniture, full of drawers and pull outs for a super efficient use of space. Room to grow!

Before: The pantry did provide lots of storage, but our fabulous cabinet maker, Ben Blackwelder, threw out the amazing idea of removing the pantry and adding a cabinet style pantry. Yes, I would lose storage, but gain counter space and make the kitchen tons better. (I have another pantry under the stairs.) I thought about it for a day or two and realized I would love that extra space for the kitchen instead so adios pantry! My yellow walls didn’t look this garrish. See this post for the etsy article feature that shows how nice the yellow actually did look.

After: The cabinet style pantry is eye candy and our same refrigerator looks like an expensive built in. Oh yea! The tile in the pantry and entryway from the garage was removed and is now all hickory stained a medium brown. (I don’t like natural blond hickory. Gag.) The arched drop ceiling leading out into the garage was removed and a lovely chandelier added.

Okay, that’s it for BEFORE and AFTER shots, now just some more after shots.

I’ve always hated the look of microwaves. I don’t think there is anything pretty about them. I’ve always had mine hidden in a pantry and luckily our cabinet maker agreed to keep it hidden because he too hates the look of microwaves. It’s just personal preference people, if you love your microwave, good for you!

The cabinet maker suggested we use big drawers like the ones below to store all the everyday dishes that we unload 1-2 times a day from our dishwasher. Once again, super efficient idea. Everything is easily accessed for the children now as well. It’s always a bonus when my 8-yr old can unload the dishwasher without needing to reach high up to put heavy plates away.

I’ve always loved subway tiles. This is the third time I’ve used them in my house(s). See this post with cream subway tiles in my last house. The soft turquoise tile is the perfect compliment to the Carrera marble counters. (And no, the green apples are not a prop. I am going to make a German Apple Pancake for breakfast Saturday morning.) Yes, I know, one of the outlet covers is white and not stainless. It’s on back order.)

l didn’t want a white island as I know from experience the island gets pretty beat up from the children sitting at the counters and just general wear and tear for being in the center of the kitchen. I asked Ben Blackwelder to suggest something. He suggested something timeless like quarter-sawn oak. It’s so classy. It looks like a piece of antique furniture from the Arts & Crafts era. And because it’s not stained, it will age over time and get a gorgeous patina. Ben says it is treated in an ammonia tent which naturally changes the color of the wood. Ooooo, chemistry is magic indeed!

I wanted contemporary pulls and knobs in polished nickel to go with the more traditional/transitional cabinetry.

Speaking of polished nickel, these are the pendants that just make the kitchen pop. I spent hours and hours looking online for the perfect pendants. They needed to be contemporary, a little bit glam, and still look kind of vintage. These are the only ones that made me gasp with happiness when I saw them. (Do you like my reflection in the shiny pendant?)

I knew I wanted a one-bowl sink again. I put one in in my last house and I have missed it for 5 years. There’s nothing like hiding dirty pots and pans in a big sink. Great for soaking the crusty junk on said pans as well. The faucet was a tricky one to find. I insisted the control be normal—meaning hot is left, cold is right. I do not like the new faucets where the control is attached to the right of the faucet and therefore back is hot, forward is cold, or something confusing like that. And I already had a kitchen faucet before where hot/cold where two separate knobs and hated it. They are gorgeous, but completely impractical when you have raw chicken or enchilada sauce on your hands—hmm, let’s get the temperature correct, a little turn of the knob on the left, a little turn of the knob on the right, nope too hot, let’s try again. That faucet was the first thing to go in this house. This faucet (pictured below) is the only one that fit my requirements. I wish I could’ve found one a bit more contemporary, but in this case, function trumped fashion. I love the dish soap dispenser on the left too.

An open shelf was suggested by the cabinet maker to break up that huge wall of solid cabinetry. I think it’s the perfect place to add some bright colors, show off my mom’s china (that she recently gave to me—my Dad bought her this china in Japan in 1970 while he was in the Air Force during the Vietnam war) and store a few cookbooks. Some have asked why this little cabinet doesn’t go all the way to the ceiling. I don’t think it would look like a piece of furniture then. It would look like another cabinet. I love it as is.

There you have it, my dream kitchen. Demolition began December 27, and today is January 27th, 2012, so not too bad. Living without a kitchen was no fun. At all. I think I’ll write another post about all the microwave meals that were a hit/bomb from Costco.

I believe in living better, not bigger. I have no desire to have a bigger house. Our house has good bones and we love it here. I just want it a bit more personalized to our liking. Please don’t think I am bragging in this post, I really am very grateful for all of this. My husband Paul and I worked really, really hard to save our pennies for this project. Paul is the happiest accountant ever and I run my own embroidery designs website. We have no debt (well, a few years left on the house) and we live frugally to avoid a few little luxuries like this kitchen. It took 5 years of living here to figure out how we wanted the kitchen and almost as long to save. That’s the bonus to remodeling vs. moving. With remodeling you can live in the space first and decide how to change it later.

Oh, and by the way, one of my new favorite color combinations is gray walls and green furniture. In case you can’t tell.

All homes have potential so don’t move, remodel! This is how the house looked when our realtor took us through way back in April 2006. I kept telling myself, “the house has good bones…..we can change all this…..”

And change it we did!

Sources:

Contractor: L&D Construction, Provo Utah. 801-836-3560. Leah Passey is the best. She always goes the extra mile for us and her prices are super fair. We’ve used her company before and we surely will again.

Custom Cabinets: Benjamin Blackwelder Cabinetry, Orem Utah. This guy has vision. His crew was awesome and they were super easy to work with. Cabinet color is ‘White Dove’ by Benjamin Moore Paints. (Jones Paint & Glass in Provo is the only place locally to get BM Paints.) Ben is the one who let me know that custom cabinets are only about 10% more than regular ones you’d get at Home Depot. Giddy-up!

Range: Kitchen Aid 36” Dual Fuel Range. I paid $2,000 less than MSRP at Mountainland Supply in Provo, Utah. I’ve only seen comparable prices on Ebay. The hood insert and sink are from Mountainland Supply as well. Good deals at that place!

Hardwood floors: Pioneer Hardwood Pleasant Grove, Utah (801) 830-2115. Bobby re-finished our floors last year as well. He is a perfectionist, and it shows.

Pendants: Benson Pendant in 7” size in polished nickel from Restoration Hardware. Chandelier next to refrigerator is from Lowe’s, click here. Gorgeous at night all lit up! Knobs and Pulls are “Strande” also from Restoration Hardware in polished nickel. Gray wall color is “Whipporwill” by Millenium Paint. Just tell that to the friendly folks at Lowes and they’ll mix it right up. I love that you can get ANY color in small $2.50 samples at Lowes. Way better than buying a whole quart to sample. This is the perfect gray—it has just a touch of green to warm it up so that it doesn’t look so, well, gray.

Tile Backsplash: This is a 3”x6”glass tile by Dal Tile. The color is called Whisper Green but I would rename is Dreamy Soft Turquoise.

Countertops: Carrera Marble through MGS Countertops. BJ is the owner and he is great to work with. He made sure I knew all about the pros and cons of Carrera. He even gave me a sample to take home and stain/etch so that I would have no regrets. I “spilled” raspberry jam, lemon juice, oil, and milk onto it to see the effect. He said it will take a year or so to develop a patina. Until then, some of the minor scratches/stains may bug me. I’ve never been fussy about having something look perfectly clean so I doubt I’ll be bothered. Ask me in a year if I feel the same way. In this last week we’ve already made some marks on the marble but they just leave a gray cast, which hello, the countertops are already white/gray anyway. There are no white granites (less maintenance than marble) and an engineered quartz stone (Silestone, Caesar stone) was $1,000 more than the Carrera. Gulp. Natural stone is less than engineered? Yup, I was shocked too.

Yes I know, the black barstools don’t go with the room anymore. But it’s January and it’s too cold to paint. I’ll spray them a fun color this summer when my Dad visits. Or better yet, purchase these.

You know I love it! I agree...at least when you've lived in a house you know what you want to change. I'm making all these choices & wondering which ones I will want to change later...and I'll have no one to blame but myself for the original choices!

Cynthia, WAY TO GO!! You guys DID IT!! I am so proud of you! Lindy told me today that Benjamin did your kitchen and then I happened to see it on Pinterest tonight. I hope you don't mind, but I emailed a link to this post to Erin at the House of Turquoise. I LOVE that you walked readers through the remodel process. You make it seem super doable and not as overwhelming as building or moving. I am a firm believer in houses with "good bones" too. (I love your subway tiles - I think they may be the same ones we used!!) Anyway. I just think it's PERFECT! No one would EVER think you're bragging!! And it's just fun to share your hard work. It takes a lot to design and build a kitchen! :) Anyway, since my pregnancy, I haven't been on Etsy, so I haven't been in touch. But it's GREAT to see you and find your blog and see that you guys have finished your dream kitchen! It was SO nice meeting you this past summer when you came through our house. Lots of love!

Just wondering...how long are the upper cabinets and are your ceilings 9 ft?? I LOVE the whole remodel but planning to replace upper cabinets and like the longer cabinet with door style that replicates two separate cabinets..thank you!

I love your new kitchen! You can tell you put a lot of thought into the design to make it work for you. Our house is 16 years old and it looks it. We have had to replace two of the appliances (got the stainless steel ones) just the stove and microwave left (in white and black). I know... what's white, black and stainless steel? My kitchen! I hate my microwave because it vents inside and like you...WHY? Dumb & cheap builders is why. I can't wait to have it vented outside. I don't care how much it costs either. Thanks for sharing your beautiful kitchen with us. I just love all your touches.

Thank you for the info..I have 42" cabinets and wanted to install stacked cabinets 36" and 15" to go to the ceiling but I LOVE your upper cabs with the divided door better!! I'll check back for length..thanks for digging out the tape measure!

Your kitchen is beautiful. May i pick your experienced brain? Your choice for putting the microwave in the pantry? I cannot figure out what to with that ugly neccesity in my kitchen. Also the electic code in our town for outlets is every 2 feet. Thats a lot of outlets to ruin my backsplash, you dont seem to have that many, but did you think about mounting them under the cabinets so they are hidden? Any pro's/con's and what your thoughts are on these issues would be appreciated.

You don't have to apologize for making your house your home. This is my first time to your blog {via HOT} and I didn't think you were bragging what so ever! It such a beautiful kitchen, you really thought of everything, just stunning!

Beyond fabulous. Your taste and dedication to working with Best-in-Class people comes through in your result. I especially LOVE your counter tops and island top. I recently laid cararra onto of my island and LOVE it!

What you did with moving the refrigerator into the corner where your pantry was while still maintaining room for your pantry items is brilliant.

I am in love with your kitchen! I found you through Centsational Girl's post, and your kitchen makes me swoon, I LOVE the backsplash! I hope to replicate it when we upgrade a "few" details in our kitchen this summer!

So glad you stopped by - you're a carrara loving girl after my own heart! Love your green glass tile, dark floors, white cabinets, built-in look fridge! This kitchen really rocks!You must be cooking up a storm in there (or at least microwaving the heck out of everything)!Kelly

Love the transformation you made in your kitchen. The white cabinets and light counter tops are so inviting. I'm not a fan of blue but I even like your tile. The shine on the tile makes your kitchen look so crisp. We are in the process of building a new home and haven't yet reached the step of picking out cabinets,counter tops and tile yet. You have given me something to think about. Thanks

Hi, we are building and we are worried about the fidge door opening. Our kitchen is similar but the pantry and fridge are in opposite places. Do you find this to be an issue or do the French doors eliminate the problem?

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About Me

I sure love cooking, sewing, my kids, modern machine embroidery, and decorating. I started meringuedesigns.net in 2007, a great place for modern embroidery designs. I live in Utah but I'll always be a California girl.